A blog about cars and driving

Are You Spending Too Much On Your Car? Here’s How To Budget Better

Cars, despite being one of the most useful ways to travel, are expensive – there are no two ways about it. Insurance, MOTs and fuel are only three of the expenditures that come with owning a car, and finding out how to cut down how much you’re spending can be cumbersome. However, we’ve got some handy tips on how to budget better:

Work Out Your Current Spend

If you want to be able to cut down on money, you’ll need to work out how much is currently leaving your bank. Start collecting receipts and checking your bank statements – add up your insurance, fuel costs, repairs to your car and all the other smaller details. If you compare costs coming into your bank and leaving your bank, you’ll begin to get a better idea of where the issue lies. Use an online budget calculator to make it even easier.

Compare Car Insurance

Although you may feel a loyalty to your current insurance provider, it’s always worth seeing what else is out there. With so many websites offering to compare the prices of a whole variety of insurers, making sure that it’s personalised to you, you could save instantly through changing companies. It only takes a few minutes to get quotes from different companies, so why not just try it out? You could save yourself a small fortune.

It’s not ‘Tyreing’

Tyres alone can boost up your annual spend on your car. By just going to the nearest place to get it fixed, or paying extortionate prices to buy a new tyre, you could be spending money that you truly don’t have to. Companies, such as Wiltshire Tyres, offer to come and change your tyre themselves for a low price, be it at your home or your workplace. It’s economical both with time and with money, and you know that you’ll get the job done correctly.

Don’t Waste Your Fuel

Rapid acceleration, harsh braking and not changing gears correctly might not seem like they’d waste too much fuel individually, but when combined it can lead to using far more petrol or diesel than you should be. Try to drive smoothly, with minimal stops and starts, and turn off the car when it’s not in use – you’ll start to notice a drop in your spends for fuel.

Find Someone in a Similar Situation

If you work with people who live in a similar area and you all drive separately, why not have a discussion? Get yourself a car buddy and you can start to save up to half on petrol on your daily commute. Work out a routine (for example if you drive alternate weeks or one of you does all the driving but you split the fuel costs). Not only will you start to save money, you’ll also have some company on the bleak British mornings – let’s just hope there’s no arguments over the radio!